hi there
this is my newest project
i lost my inspiration on the bocage dioso i started this one
a section of a ruined housewith a german 2cm 38 flak in the backyard
the house was ocupied by german troopsusing it as a observation post for the flak
i want to capture a scene with2 us soldiers storming the housewith one of them storming upstairs
and the other one entering the buildingfrom the garden
the base is a picture frame from the big blue furniturestore
the walls are made of a type of foam fromthe railroad section
i carved the mortar lines with my modeling knifepainted it with valejio and used a burnt umbra wash for
the weathering followed by some pigments(tamiya weathering kit)the wooden panels are made of mc d "wood"the bed and the small bedside tableare from academy and are made of softvinyl
the flak is from tristar and really nice detailedthe figures i´m going to use are from masterbox
which my wife bought for me for christmasi was really impressed by the quality of these figures
and the come with some decals for the rank signs
i still will add some more rubble and debrisespecially inside of the houseand some more on the outside
some shingles are in productionthe pole is scratchbuild using two german potatoemashers
still alot to do
but here are the pics







sorry for my bad english
salute
bazooka

nice work, looking forward to see the figures on there to really bring it to life!

Very nice work, my first thought on looking at the second picture was to move the gun 4 inches to the right. It looks to me like that house wall blocks line of sight pretty well.

Of course, it also means they cannot be attacked from that direction too..

I like the 'stairway to nowhere' going up to the non-existant upper floor as well.

Mike

I had the same thought about the position of the gun. Would it also put it more to the right (as seen from pic 2) and point the gun away from the house.

Dio is becoming nice, I like the house very much, especially the bullet-holes in the wall.

Maybe you could add some signs of a fire that burnt part of the house, which had probably happend as a result of the bomb/gernade blasts.

Looking forward to see progression!



Jelger

If the flak is the focus piece of equipment I would put it closer to the front. It looks like it play a very small role in the diorama.
The scene needs to be staged to really show that the Germans have cleaned a work area and are using the hutch as a map area and have done quite a bit to clean up. As it is the furniture you have would be pretty beat up if that much of the corner fell on it.
I would put a random brick here and there in the dirt area, not many three or four here or there to show that rubble did in fact fall everywhere and not neatly next to the wall. The rubble as it is looks like it has been cleaned and pushed up against the house (which is fine). Some bricks need to be inside too, not all the bricks would fall out, some would ultimately fall in.
The walls are nicely done, good work on the bullet holes and edges. The groundwork grass etc. is pretty cool too.

I agree about the position of the flak. The most adventagous spot to set it up would be by the corner of the house, especially with that gap. you would be protected from 1/4 of the approaches from there, but still be able to have a fair bit of visibility in that direction.

I would add more rubble, and do it in such a way that the flak gun crew has pushed it around to provide even more protection for themselves in the form of an embankment around the gun (being sure to leave one side open on one of the more protected sides for when they want to pull in a vehicle to hook up and move out.

I would also suggest that any bed near soldiers in the field that is at all useable would be immediately cleared off and put to use for a long awaited comfy nap! That would be my first prority after gtting the gun set up anyway.

You also might think about stashing the flak's trailer in a corner of the diorama somewhere too for more interest. Perhaps near the wall where the flak gun currently sits (since the soldiers are likely not going to block the gap in the fence, since the fence provides some privacy for a privy behind it somewhere (don't include that in your diorama though!)

Besides the details of the best positioning of things though, it looks excellent.

Your groundwork is excellent, but you do need to think twice about the 20mm.

Is it to be used in an anti-aircraft or anti-personel/AFV situation?

With the barrel at its current elevation it looks as though it is being used in the AA role. In which case it is waaaay to close to the house. The gun needs a 360° arc of clear firw to be effective in an AA role, something which it can't do this close to the house and unfortunately within the confines of your diorama.

Not a problem if it is intended to fend of attacking infantry and AFV's, something which I presume you are intending given the GI's storming the house. However, with the barrel in this elevation it does not give this effect. Re-angle the barrel at 0° and put some spent shell casings around the gun to give the impression it has been used to fight of attacking ground forces.

Id agree with the ideas of moving the gun into the open corner of the dio, and giving it some added protrection with rubble or camouflage with branches. The inclusion of the trailer would also add some interest and give the impression the crew had it on stand by to move to another position if neccesary.

These are just suggestions, the work you have put in really shows, as I say your house and groundwork are top notch, really well done. I just think you need to think about the story the diorama is trying to tell a bit more. When you have this planned, any questions that arise during the build can easily be answered by 'what would they have done in the circumstances'.

Good luck with it, this will look excellent when its done!

James

P.S. one more thing, Flak 38 barrels were usually a gun metal black and not camouflaged as they were changed regularly and would get very hot causing the paint to flake off.

Great work so far. I, like all, am in agreement that the gun needs to be moved. The house in actuallity does not play much part in protection. Rounds from a .50 cal... let alone 6 at once, would chew that brick apart if the pilot decided to swing around. Provided he didn't get capped by the gun on the first go around.

Other than that, I love it. You have done a great job with the house and its rubble.

-Mike

Your house looks great ! G.

mein Deutsche ist nichts so gut, aber sein englisch ist viel besser

Great looking start. Looking forward to seeing it finished

Des

clear up the inside of the house and put you flak inside, stalking allied troops comming up the road, nice building ,anyway, that's my 2cent

LOL
Greetz Tha Pit

hi everybody
thanks for all the kind comments and critic
i had the same thougths about the positioning
of the flak and i decided to place it in the angle
of the walls...painted the trailer and it will
be positioned where the flak once was
i´m a bit unhappy about the rubble inside the house
maybe i´m going to clean all up ...
and i closed the gap at the destroyed fence
with rubble and corrigated tinroof
pics will follow later
@ jointhepit i think it wouldn´t be possible
to place the aa gun iside the house
and it will leave to much empty space
outside and would concentrate the story
inside the house
cheers
bazooka

ok here we go....
thanks for watching
cheers bazooka

looking good.

two last suggestions:

1. make little divots for the feet of the flak to rest in so it looks like it has some heft.

2. more dirt and small rubble on the floor inside, arranged in such a way that it looks like someone cleared off the bed and maybe pushed things around to get access to it without twisting an ankle. It looks awefully clean in there (despite the large rubble) for a roof having collapsed.

A soldier actually sitting, sleeping, or reading on the bed would be especially nice.

You have a very respectable diorama coming together.

thanks vanice
i´m going to place some wooden planks
under the flak
the idea with the sitting soldier is nice
but i`m going to use two us soldiers
storming the house
but anyway thanks
cheers
bazooka

Hi Bastian,

I think you should get rid off the bed. First of all it is on the 1st floor, and the stairs suggest another floor above, where a bedroom is likely to be located. Furthermore, the bed looks too clean and untouched (not only the sheets, but the bed as a whole) in such a demolished house. Maybe try to make some improvised living quarters for the Flak-crew.

Just some ideas,

I like your diorama,



Jelger

Yo Bazooka,

Nice work so far, you picked up all the tips en trucks from this forum, so you're work improves with it! Great!

Maybe you can put some advertisment wallpapers on the walls of the house...that will bring some color and atracction the scene.

Great work so far.

Greetz Nico

Great work thus far..Cant wait ti see the finished project .

I actually like the bed as it is but would be tempted to change the colours of the blanket and pillow for something less military looking.
I always find that it's the incongruity of bright colours against a sombre backdrop that brings a diorama to life.

if this were a quick fix position, wouldnt they be using blankets and not a bed??
not a critisism just a thought

hi everyone
i´m back with a little progress
played the whole time with the idea of adding a part of a wall advertisment
made a simple one with the first two letters of an michelin advertisment
thanks for watching
greetz bazooka

NICE!!

Question about the bulletholes... How did you make them?



Jelger

Hi Bastian,

Looking excellent, I like the new position for the flak and the building looks really good. Great stuff.

Al

Looking better, making good progress on it. I like the new positioning.